A U.S. university defended spending about $32,000 to bring reality television star Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi to campus this week, despite several students questioning if it was a wise use of money.

The speaking fee Rutgers University in New Jersey paid to the star of the MTV reality television series "The Jersey Shore" is $2,000 more than Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winning author Toni Morrison will receive to speak at graduation on May 15.

"We have more than 200 events on our campus during the course of the year, everything from scholarly presentations to entertainment," Rutgers spokesman Steve Manas said. "The students canvassed for who they wanted here and had the funds available."